


Lots of Quarters

by FankayArt



Category: Jacksepticeye Power Hour (Web Series), Video Blogging RPF
Genre: Also how do you write kids help, Anti does not hurt the kids, Anti isn't that violent in this story, Chase brody's kids - Freeform, Fluff, Gen, Just creepy, The kids come visit, some scary stuff comes up
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-12
Updated: 2020-12-12
Packaged: 2021-03-10 23:01:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 14,211
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28025139
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FankayArt/pseuds/FankayArt
Summary: Chase has the kids for five days!Chase's kids get to stay in the ego household, for the very first time... and they get to meet Jackie, Marvin, Jameson, and Henrik. The egos warm up to them and find them a joy to be around.All seems to be going well until Chase hears about how they met another ego. One he had hoped they'd never have to see.
Comments: 12
Kudos: 19





	1. Day One

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The kids have come to visit! The first night comes by and already, Chase is learning something new about his kids… and Marvin is challenged with a ghost hunt.

  
Five days. Five days Chase had the kids before they'd leave again. Though usually it was only two or three… now it was five. Probably because of how Chase’s living situation changed as the egos banded together and bought a place. It was a nice spot, and it seemed like Stacy agreed that it was much better than Chase’s previous living situations, so she let the kids stay there for longer.

Seven bedrooms in total, not in a neighborhood or city. It was further out so Marvin could practice magic, and Jackie with his abilities. Unfortunately it meant Jackie had to fly further to get to the city… but he didn't mind. 

The egos all found it to be very nice there after being on the run for months.

A specific demon had been haunting and chasing them. Possessing them, scaring them… sometimes attacking them. Nothing that would cause more than a few bruises, but the fact he'd constantly go for knives whenever he saw them didn't give the other egos much confidence that he _wouldn't_ hurt them if given the chance. Jackie always managed to stop him if he possessed someone, but he himself would get pulled into illusion. Some form of trickery. If not possession or illusion, he simply controlled you separately. Jameson was constantly used and drained of his energy whenever the demon got the chance.

None of them know what he wants, or what he's tied to. They just know he shows up at the most inopportune times, looks _demonic_ , and repeats himself often. Like some kind of ghost, except this ghost can make himself physically solid for long periods of time. He could probably do it nonstop, except he loved to just disappear and let the fear that maybe… _maybe_ he'd show up again after a few minutes.

At least, that's what it seemed like to them. If he did it because he found it funny or that he couldn't control it, none of them could say… but the fact he laughed and giggled so often led them to believe that it was the first reason.

Marvin assumed he was tied to an object, but even after leaving _all_ of their belongings in one place… including Chase’s cap, Marvin’s mask, Jackie’s costume… the glitch still appeared and attacked them. He's not tied to an object, he's just tied to _them_. It made it more difficult to get rid of him, and Marvin debates if it's even possible.

But one day, Anti didn't attack. Well, one day isn't much, so maybe the next day. But when the next day came, he didn't attack then, either. Nor the next day, or the next. The egos became increasingly distressed as the week was nearing an end, and nothing had happened. No incidents.

Most were on edge, but they took the time to find a place to settle, and suggested a large place on the outskirts of town. Almost three weeks had passed and still, there was nothing.

Chase took the time to try and see his kids again, and as much debate that brought up, they eventually gave in and let the man see them. If the demon showed up, Jackie assured him he would do his best to handle it.

  
  
  


So the day Anti heard the sounds of children laughing, it definitely peaked his interest. His long pointed ears flicked at the sound, and he followed the noise.

“Daddy, I wanna meet your friends!”

“Me too! Me too!”

“Okay, okay…” The father chuckled with them and gave a genuinely happy smile as he watched his children get excited, “But don't tell your mom. If you tell her she might get mad, okay?”

“Why would mommy get mad?”

“Oh, well… she wouldn't understand.” Chase tried to explain, “We all look the same even though we aren't related, and that might scare her… so don't tell her, okay?”

“Okay.”

Chase smiled again and stood up from the couch. He didn't have an explanation for the egos… and honestly, he didn't have the energy to even try to explain to Stacy. He hardly knew where they came from to begin with.

The two children followed. Abigail, the older girl, happily skipped along with her long brown hair and blue eyes. She looked around seven or eight. The younger boy, Sammy, seemed around four or five. He had stopped following his father and was standing in the living room still. Staring.

“Sam, what's wrong buddy?” Chase asked, concern in his voice.

Anti has been standing in the living room, learning every little bit about them. Couldn't be seen by the naked eye, much like a ghost. No one else saw him, at least, no one except Chase’s son who gave him a funny look. Not a look of fear, but one of curiosity.

“He looks funny.”

“Who does?” Sammy turned around to look at his father, then pointed up at what they saw as an empty corner.

“Him!”

“No one’s there, bud…”

Sammy turned his head to look back at Anti, just to see that he couldn't see the ghost anymore. The boy shrugged it off and smiled as he walked with them. He often was told what he saw was his imagination. Stacy mainly said his visions were silly and not real, so perhaps this was fake too.

“He’s gone now.”

“Tell me about him later!” Abbie smiled, and Sam nodded.

“Can I hear about it too?” Chase asked, intrigued by Sam and Abbie’s conversation.

“Sure.” Abbie said bluntly, “Sam can see things we can't.”

“Is that so…” Chase said, walking with them down the hall, “... like ghosts?”

“Yeah! He can see ghosts!”

“Well you'll have to tell me about some of your stories, I want to hear about them.” Chase smiled and Sam smiled with him.

Chase gave a concerned glance behind them, then back at the hallway ahead. He had hoped they were just playing pranks, but something told him that they were telling the truth this time.

Slowly they were introduced to every ego in the house, one at a time. Jackie was the first and most like Chase. He was stronger of course, and a lot more into comics, something Abbie very much adored. She loved comics and happily talked with him about Spider-Man for a solid five minutes. Chase explained that if _anything_ were to happen, if there was a stranger or someone attacked them, that they should go directly to Jackie for help. They nodded, and after Chase had said what was important, Jackie showed off his strength by picking up both children with ease. He offered to pick up Chase but the father quickly declined.

Jameson was next, and after the initial “Dad, why isn't he saying anything?”, they learned that he spoke with his hands. Abbie and Sam found that incredibly fascinating, even though she couldn't tell what he was saying. She'd always glance up and ask her father what he said, and Chase would gladly translate as the dapper told them how happy he was to meet them for the first time. 

After that, Henrik was given a visit. Chase made sure to explain he was the one to go to if they needed help concerning food or small things if Chase wasn't in the house, or if they had an injury of some kind. Sam asked why he talked funny, and Abbie tried to explain the concept of an accent very poorly, which caused Henrik to laugh. Eventually she gave up and let Chase explain.

Marvin was the last one they visited. The moment he mentioned he was a magician, Abbie wanted to see a magic trick. Marvin attempted a card trick, and failed to actually guess the card. He pouted and used real magic to set the one that was in his hand on fire. They all stared in fascination, and immediately Chase just laughed at the fact Marvin could do real magic better than a card trick.

  
  
  


By the end, Chase walked them back to their room with a smile, “How were they all?”

“Jackie is so cool!” Abbie smiled, “He has Spider-Man comics! And plushies! And he's strong! And Marvin can do magic… and Jamie speaks with his hands!”

Chase laughed at her explanations, and tried his best not to laugh too much. His head turned and he looked down at Sam, “How about you?”

“Henrik is silly.” His little giggle that followed made the other two laugh.

“Alright… well I'll start to work on some dinner for us. You guys go get settled in your room, okay?” Chase smiled, opening the door to the guest bedroom with two twin beds and a few bland decorations. Their bags were already set in there and Abbie walked in, followed by Sam.

As Chase walked off, Abbie sat down on the bed on the left side of the room, eagerly swinging her legs, “So, what did the ghost look like?? Was he hanging from the ceiling too?”

“No.” Sam said bluntly, “He was green.”

“...Green? Maybe he's sick.”

“Do you turn green when you get sick?”

“I don't think you _always_ do. Maybe he's just really _really_ sick.” Abbie paused before smiling, “Maybe he needs to see Henrik! He's a doctor. He can give him medicine and make him better.”

“But how could Henny help him if he can't see him?” Sam asked and she pouted.

“I dunno…”

  
  
  


Chase had started to boil some water and waited for a bit. What Sam had said was stuck in his head, and he tapped nervously on the counter before reaching for another pot to put the vegetables in.

“What's on your mind?” Chase’s thoughts were interrupted by Marvin, “You seem nervous… aren't you happy?”

“Yes! Yeah, of course.” Chase assured quickly, “It's not them. Well it's… it's kinda about them…”

“It's about _him,_ isn't it?” Marvin asked, and took Chase’s sigh as a yes. It wasn't hard to guess what he was worried about, because the others were worried about the same thing.

“... Sammy said he saw someone standing in the living room, and Abbie says he can see ghosts.”

“I mean… yeah, it happens.” Marvin shrugged, “Usually kids can have that sense, but they grow out of it. This place probably has ghosts… it's pretty old. Why, do you think he saw..?”

“I don't know, but if they did I'm not… not sure if they should be left alone for long.” Chase bit his lip, looking back down at the stove.

Marvin gently rested a hand on Chase’s shoulder and patted it, “It'll be okay. I'll look into it if you want me to.”

Chase nodded, followed by a quiet, “Please.”

He continued with dinner while Marvin turned and walked back down the hallway to his room. His walking slowed as he came close to the guest bedroom the kids were staying in, and he stopped just outside the door to listen.

He could hear the two of them bickering over if Spider-Man or Iron man was better, and the conversation made the magician smile. It reminded him a lot of Jackie, and he already knew who's side Jackie would take.

Slowly he pulled away and continued his way down the hall, turning into his room and closing the door behind him. If there were ghosts in the house, it would probably be best if they were taken care of anyways.

  
  
  


Later that evening, after dinner, Chase had sat down on the edge of Sam's bed and had begun telling them a bedtime story from an old book he had.

“Nooo! You've told us this one before! We want a new story.” Abbie pouted, looking up at him. Chase slowly lowered the book he had to look at her, “Come up with a new one.”

Chase bit his tongue to keep himself from saying that it wasn't as easy as she thought, and took a deep sigh. He paused for a moment to try and think of something considering that was the only book he had on hand.

After a moment, a smirk grew on his face. He wasn't the best at making up stories, so he decided to tell them a real one, “Alright… let me tell you a story about _real_ magic. The magic you both have.” He tapped a finger on Sam’s chest and smiled as he giggled, “The magic Marvin has, the magic Jackie has.”

“Jackie has magic??”

“He does. He can fly.”

“Woah.” Abbie smiled, “Could he take us on rides? How far can he fly? Does he get tired-”

Chase laughed, “Slow down, slow down… I haven't even gotten to the story.” At that, Abbie went silent and smiled, excited to hear the rest. The father then continued, “One day… there was just... a normal guy. He… had no powers, or magic… he… had nowhere to go-”

“Why did he have nowhere to go?”

“Well… his family had to leave him, and he didn't have a place to stay anymore. He wasn't welcome.”

“But-”

“Shhh!” Sam hushed her, wanting to hear more of the story.

Chase chuckled a bit before continuing, “So one day, he took a walk in the woods. To relax a bit… at least… that's what he thought before he was suddenly taken to a new place in an instant.” He snapped his fingers and Sam gave a surprised look, but Abbie didn't seem convinced.

“What once was a forest around him was now a city. The ground beneath him was now a building. No forest around for miles.”

“How did he get there?”

“No one knows. He just appeared.” Chase smiled as Abbie gave him a strange look. He knew she was ready to question him again but he kept going before she could, “Once he suddenly appeared, he hurried around to check his surroundings. That they were real. He was brought from a forest, to a city in the blink of an eye.”

“Magic…”

“That's right.”

“But who brought him?”

“We're getting there Abbie.” Chase laughed, “... well, the first thing he did was walk around, looking for anything to explain what happened…”

“Doesn't he know it's magic…” Abbie mumbled and giggled along with Sam.

“Well, he didn't believe in magic then.” There was a gasp and Chase had to desperately try to hold in his laughter, “... so he tried to find out why this happened. He had no way of getting back, and no idea where he was… but he felt like he was being watched.”

  
  
  


As Chase continued with his story, the kids slowly became more and more tired.

“He finally met this person that everyone talked about… but something had followed them. Something dangerous.”

Abbie’s eyes widened at that, but she didn't say anything.

“Some kind of demon. A ghost! One that came to haunt them.” He smirked before lunging out at Abbie and watching her jump, “And it jumped out at them! The two ran out of the building, but it followed quickly behind… and then…”

“And then what?”

“And thennn… we’ll have to wait until tomorrow night to find out.” Chase smirked, pulling away as Abbie whined. Even Sam let out a very tired whine alongside her.

“That's definitely not a good way to put someone to sleep.” Marvin mocked, leaning against the doorframe. He had just walked over to check up on the kids, only to find Chase was still telling them a story.

“It's a long story! Besides, the sooner you go to sleep, the sooner tomorrow will come.” Chase gave Abbie a kiss on the head, then walked over to Sam and gave him a kiss on the head as he tucked him in.

“That's true~” Marvin smiled as Chase walked over to the door. The magician moved out of the way as Chase slowly closed the door, “Goodnight you two.”

“Goodnight Sammy, goodnight Abbie.”

“Night daddy....” “Night dad.”

  
  


As the door shut, Chase and Marvin walked down the hallway.

“Thought you were working on that ghost problem?”

“I thought that you finished telling your story several minutes ago.” Marvin teased, “Also, very original story.”

“They wanted me to make one up on the spot, don't give me that! Plus, I'd say it's pretty interesting.”

“It's pretty fuckin’ interesting alright.” Marvin chuckled quietly, “It's how we all got stuck here.”

“Yeah, well… it's fun. For them.”

“A demon?”

“It's fun! You sound like an overprotective mom.”

“I don't want you to scare them…” Marvin mumbled quietly, “I like kids… and I don't… want them to be afraid.”

“It's a good little horror story. But not too bad, I’ll make it less scary. They don't know it's real.”

“Just wait until you have to explain Jameson’s situation. And Henrik’s.” Chase could only give a nervous laugh at that.

“I'll uh… make it less scary.”

“He tried to kill Henrik.” Marvin crossed his arms, “And me.”

“To be fair, you were trying to kill him, so…”

“I was trying to release his spirit!”

“I don't know what that means but it sounds like being dead, dead to me. Like extra dead.”

“It's not like he's supposed to be alive anyways… he's a ghost!”

“Are you sure?”

Chase’s question made him stop for a moment. A pout showed up on his face, “... I don't know what else he could be… besides, I thought you were scared of him.”

“I'm scared of what he might do to the kids… I'm not really that afraid of him otherwise. He's… not that violent. He’s just creepy, and scares us a lot.”

“And possesses us.” Marvin could already hear Chase trying to argue and stopped him, “But… I can see where you're coming from. I'll look into it. He's definitely not a demon though, or one of us would be dead by now. Ghosts… don't lash out when they're being exorcized properly.” He huffed, “And they aren't tied to people…”

“Well, good luck with that.” Chase smiled and patted him on the shoulder. Marvin sighed heavily but a smile came across his face.

“Oh yeah, thanks. So helpful.” He teased and watched as Chase walked down the hall, “Goodnight, Chase.”

“Night Marvin!”

  
  
  


Later in the night as Abbie and Sam tried to sleep, creaky footsteps made their way towards their door. Abbie was still alert and looked up immediately as she heard them, “... Dad?”

The footsteps slowed to a stop just outside their door. Their father would probably have said something along the lines of “why aren't you asleep?”, but this shadow remained silent. Abbie rushed over from her bed to Sam’s. She hurriedly shook him awake, causing Sam to blink a bit, mumbling incoherent words.

“Sam… Sam wake up!” Abbie whispered, shaking him more when Sam tried to close his eyes again.

“Huh…” Sam began rubbing his eyes, “I'm tired…”

“I think the ghost is at the door!”

A creaking sound came from the door as it slowly opened, and Abbie looked over with a fearful glance. Sam finally found himself awake enough to sit up and stare at what was in the doorway.

Anti, the demon itself, was standing in the doorway. His lanky, and bony body seemed incredibly thin. Almost as if he were a corpse. The large gash in his neck just fed to that idea… as well as soulless black eyes. Though his claws, pointed teeth, and pointed ears made him seem… inhuman.

“You can see him too?” Sam asked in a whisper and Abbie nodded, not saying a word as she stared at him.

The demon didn't say anything, just stood twitching, and somehow visibly glitching in the doorway, as if he were on a flickering screen. Sam was the only one who had the courage to speak up to them; “Hello. Who are you?”

The creature’s ear twitched at the noise, which caused Abbie to start giggling. Sam followed and began to giggle as well.

The demon didn't answer the question… but he did begin to chuckle. His voice was distorted and strained because of the wound in his neck, but he kept giggling along with them. It helped Abbie warm up to their new visitor.

“What's your name?” Abbie asked again for Sam with a smile, “I'm Abbie, and this is my brother, Sam. Do you have any brothers? Are any of dad’s roommates your brother? Are you _dad’s_ brother? Are you our uncle?”

Anti didn't answer a single question and stood in the doorway, silent. Abbie pouted and stood up, hurrying over and taking the demon’s hand and started to pull him inside, “Come on! Come talk with us! I've never met a ghost before! Sam always got to meet all the ghosts!” She said excitedly, closing the door behind them.

Anti just seemed to let them pull him around without a fuss. He even listened when she asked him to sit on the edge of the bed with her and Sam.

“How old are you? Sam is six, and I'm eight. I'm almost nine though, in like three months. What's your birthday?” The more questions Sam asked, the further convinced she was that maybe Anti couldn't hear them. Or maybe he couldn't speak like Jameson, “Does your throat stop you from talking? You should see Henrik for that. He's a good doctor.”

A toxic green, glowing iris formed as he stared at her, and she let out an excited gasp, “How did you do that? Your eyes are so pretty, they _glow!_ Look Sam!”

“I wanna see!” Sam smiled as Anti turned his head to look down at him, “So pretty…”

“I would LOVE to have glowing eyes! They're so pretty and you can see them all the time! I would want pink ones! Can you see in the dark with them?”

“I want mine to glow blue, but I like green too.” Sam said quietly. Anti just sat between them, not saying a word.

“... are you silent like Jamie?” Abbie asked bluntly, “Do you know how to make signs with your hands too? I can go get you a pen and paper if you'd like me to!” She offered, immediately standing up to go get some paper.

“Are you a nice ghost?” Anti’s head turned to look down at Sam. Sam began to feel uneasy at how long and drawn out the silence was… the creature just never gave an answer.

“Here's some paper and a pen! Daddy said that we need to have a notepad ready if we want to talk with Jamie when someone’s not there to tell us what he's saying.”

Anti stared down at the notepad, but still refused to do anything. His eyes just drifted back up to Abbie and stayed focused on her. It was only now she started to notice his eyes almost looked glazed over.

“Hey Sam, are all ghosts like this?” She asked, tilting her head and watching as Anti mimicked her head movement.

“Kind of. They don't really talk or move… and they're a little scary.”

Anti giggled at the word and Abbie gave him a confused look, “What's so funny?”

Anti didn't say anything in return, just smiled and straightened his head back up in sync with Abbie’s.

“Maybe he's just trying to scare us! Or make us go to sleep since he isn't really _doing_ anything.”

“Maybe he wants to play a game!” Sam whispered with a smile. To his surprise, Anti immediately turned his head to look at him.

“A game, a game! What game should we play??” Abbie asked, just to have Anti turn to look at her, “... I don't think we have anything we can play without the others waking up though.”

“We have paper! Let's play… ummm… the X and O game.”

“Okay! We can trade back and forth.” Abbie drew two lines down and across to create the squares needed. She then handed it to Sam so he could go first with Anti.

Sam hesitated before he drew a circle in the center and handed the pen and paper to Anti. Slowly the creature held onto them and paused for a moment, likely confused.

“You've gotta get yours in a row, or stop someone from winning!” Abbie explained, and watched as Anti drew in an X above the O.

Sam began going back and forth with him, filling in circles while he kept putting x’s.

“I win!” Sam smiled, drawing a line diagonally through his O’s.

  
  


“ **Fų̨̖̤̋͗͂̄ck̢̛͖͖͙̿́͌ǐ̩̰̩̅̾ń̩g̡͈̱̹͑̕͘͟͡͡ ̣͙̳̂̆̒ci͙͑r̗̣͍͐̒͘c̈͟lȇ̤s** ”

  
  


Anti’s distorted and broken shrill voice caught the both of them off guard, but soon after Abbie pouted, “Did you say a bad word? You can't say bad words Mr. Ghost!”

“Yeah! You have to put a quarter in the swear jar.”

Anti tilted his head again and squinted his eyes at Abbie. He wasn't used to getting scolded.

“Do you have a quarter?” Abbie asked, then looked at Sam, “Do ghosts have quarters?”

Sam shrugged and Abbie turned back to look at Anti and whispered in curiosity, “Do you have ghost money?”

Anti just sat still, and they took that as a no. Abbie let out a dramatic sigh and went over to her bag. She pulled out a little pink and white polka dotted purse and handed Anti three quarters from it, “Here! But I won't give you any more. Every time you swear you have to put one in a jar, so promise you'll give one to Daddy tomorrow!”

Anti stared at it for a bit before slipping it into his pocket.

“We still don't know your name, sir…” Sam said quietly, which Anti looked back in his direction, “... what is your name?”

  
  


“ **... Ä́͟n̢̼̫͍͗͛̀́t̜̟̎̓i̺̣̟͙͑̇̇͆ ̟͓̳̄͌͞** \- “

  
  


Footsteps started coming down the hallway, and within an instant, Anti had vanished into thin air. Sammy gasped and whispered a quiet, “Like the story…”

“Shh, sleep!” Abbie hushed, hurrying as quietly as she could to her bed, hustling under the blankets as Sam turned and pulled the blankets over his head as well. They both shut their eyes and pretended to be asleep as the door slowly creaked open.

“Hm…” Whoever it was, they stood there for a moment. The two children had their backs facing whoever had walked in and couldn't tell if it was their dad, or maybe a roommate, “... maybe I was hearing things.” They mumbled before turning back into the hallway, closing the door behind them.

As they walked off, and eventually closed the door to their own room, Abbie turned around in bed and looked around, “Anti..? Is that your name?” She whispered. Sam did the same as her, turning around to face Abbie.

Abbie’s eyes trailed down to below Sam’s bed, as two glowing green eyes were hiding underneath it. Abbie giggled a bit, and Anti giggled back.

Sam smiled and peeked a bit over the edge of his bed to see the green glow coming from the ghost’s eyes reflecting off the floor.

“Goodnight Mr. Anti.” Sam said, cuddling up in bed with a yawn.

The green eyes stayed for a moment before they slowly faded into darkness. Abbie wanted to talk more, but perhaps Anti was tired and needed to sleep too.

“Goodnight Anti…” Abbie smiled sleepily, and not long after, drifted asleep as well.

  
  


  
  


The next morning, Chase woke up confused as to why a lone quarter was sitting on the edge of his nightstand.


	2. Day Two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sam and Abbie tell their dad about what they saw last night, and it earns high skepticism from every ego in the household. All the egos tell them to stay away from Anti, but Jackie seems to wait to join them in ghost hunting.
> 
> Jackie decided to use a ouija board he found, unaware it was Marvin’s… and that it's no normal board.

“We met Anti last night!”

The table went quiet. It was fairly early in the morning, breakfast had just been served. Marvin turned around to look at them from the kitchen, and the eyes of everyone at the table or getting ready to sit had a worried glance. Chase especially was giving them a look of concern. He wanted to make sure he was hearing things right and asked, “... who's Anti?”

“The ghost that lives here.” Sammy smiled, looking up at Abbie before back at the others, “He played games with us.”

“So you weren't asleep last night! I thought I heard something.” Jackie teased, eating a piece of bacon off his plate. Abbie and Sammy just giggled while Chase raised a brow.

“... what kind of games?” Chase asked, trying to keep himself calm about the Anti situation. He didn't mind that they had stayed up a bit later, he was worried about the creature that had visited them in the night.

“Just a game of tic tac toe, but he's not very good at it. He said a bad word so we told him to give you a quarter. Did he give you a quarter? I made him promise to!”

The egos glanced over at Chase as he thought for a moment. The pieces finally clicked together as he said, “Oh… yeah. That's why there was a quarter on my dresser.”

Jackie chuckled a bit at that and Henrik gently slapped his arm, even though the hero couldn't feel it. The hero just didn't believe that _Anti_ would do something like that. What the hero did next gave the others even more distress, “How about we go ghost hunting today?”

“Yeah!!” Sam smiled and threw up his hands, and Abbie followed with, “We aren't gonna hurt him, right?”

“Of course not, just go looking… for him.” Jackie felt Henrik _and_ Marvin’s glares on him, and it made him want to reconsider… but it was too late now. He quickly tried to follow with, “... if your dad says we can.”

“Pleeease dad?” Abbie smiled, and Sam followed with the same pleading look.

“...Finish your breakfast first.” Chase said, and watched his children exclaim happily and tried to finish eating as soon as they could. His eyes then drifted to Jackie. He showed no expression on his face, but Jackie could just _sense_ his frustration. The look of ‘you're putting my kids in a dangerous situation and if they get hurt, I will _kill_ you’, and Jackie himself cowered a bit under his stare.

“I'll keep them safe.” Jackie assured the others with a shy smile, just to have Abbie interrupt him.

“It's okay Jackie! He's nice!”

“Is that so.” Marvin muttered spitefully, from the kitchen. His last encounter with Anti left him with scars, and he'd kill the demon in a heartbeat if it was planning to harm or use the kids in any way.

“Yeah, he doesn't do much. He kinda just stared at us. He had a cut on his neck though! Can you help him, Henrik? You're a doctor!”

Henrik stared down at Abbie and sighed. He simply said, “I cannot help a patient who does not seek my help, or let me help them. Every time I've seen him, he tries to hurt me.”

Abbie gave him a confused look, “But he's so nice… why would he hurt you?”

“We will bring him to you.” Sam offered with a smile, “We will tell him it's not good to hurt you!”

The egos all quietly laughed or smiled in some way at that. The last thing they'd expect was for Chase’s kids to save them from this strange ghost haunting them.

“Okay zhen… I'll help him zhe best I can if he does not hurt me, or zhe others.”

“Has he hurt you?”

The others went quiet at that. Some of them glanced over at JJ a bit as well, who was keeping himself out of the conversation.

“Yes, he has… and if you can get him to stop that would be wonderful.” Jackie said with a smile, but he could already feel the glare coming from Chase once again. The father already was concerned that the demon was visiting them, the last thing he wanted was for his children to be _seeking it out._

“We will tell him!”

The egos all continued to talk with the children about their encounter, and occasionally told warnings that they had to be more careful.

While they did, that very ghost was just staring, and listening in from the hall. He just stared from where he stood in the doorframe, watching.

He wanted to talk to them. He wanted to be included. He wanted to play games again.

But he would rather wait until later in the night, when Jackie wasn't with them.

  
  
  


Turns out the ghost wasn't given much of a choice when they had started their little ghost hunt.

“Anti!” Sam smiled, looking directly at the ghost. He had hoped that staying in the basement would stop them from coming, but that didn't seem to be the case. Jackie probably told them that would probably be the best place to find ghosts.

But Sam’s abilities were limited, and he could only see the ghost for a short time before he disappeared from the child’s view. Why that seemed to be the case, Anti himself wasn't so sure.

“So we should set up here?” Jackie asked. He felt tense about the situation but tried to not let it show. He could protect the kids… he _would_ protect them. Surely this Anti wasn't the same one, right? It was a prank?

The hero turned, getting ready to turn on the light when Abbie grabbed his arm, “He doesn't like the light, stay in the dark!”

“But…” His arguments fell flat as he saw Sam and Abbie with pouts on their face, “...okay, okay…” Jackie chuckled nervously, “But let's at least leave the door open or turn on a lamp to see.” He argued, then headed upstairs a bit to open the door and let some light into the basement. The hero let out a sigh, then set the ouija board down. He was thankful for his night vision as well, as he'd probably _never_ keep the lights off otherwise. 

The hero was still skeptical of Sam’s ability to see ghosts, but he wasn't one to judge and he did want to have some fun. And, maybe see if there were ghosts in their house, other than the one they kept referring to as Anti.

The kids on the other hand, _really_ wanted to talk to their demonic friend again, “How do we talk to Anti?”

“Oh, well you talk to ghosts like this. You all put your hands on this thing, and the ghost will move it around as you ask questions!”

Abbie gasped and smiled, “This will help because he can't talk much! Now we can ask him plenty of questions!”

“Well, don't overwhelm ghosts… they can't answer that fast!” Jackie let out a nervous laugh. He was considering playing a prank on them… but he wanted to see if a ghost would move it first. He had remembered when Chase and Marvin played some of this with him, and they ended up toying with him for thirty minutes before he found out it was them.

Jackie had to admit he wasn't exactly the smartest, and believed as much as a child would. 

But this time, they weren't here! And they might _actually_ have a ghost move this.

Anti noticed them all sit down at a board game, and slowly walked over to investigate it. His head tilted as he read the letters and words on the board, and wondered what kind of game they would be playing. After a moment, he slowly sat down with them, and waited.

Anti could sense the board itself seemed to be enchanted in some way. Likely the magician’s doing… but considering Jackie was only playing around, it made Anti question if he had stolen it, or maybe he thought it was an ordinary game anyone could use and took it.

The latter seemed more like something the hero would do.

The thing practically drew ghosts in, and it wasn't long until an unfamiliar ghost of the house manifested itself. Anti was already letting out a warning growl as it came closer towards the board and the players.

“How many ghosts are here with us?” Jackie asked as a tease, just to have the planchette be pulled away from their hands, resting on the number 2. The letters and numbers glowed as well, and continued to do so, waiting for the next question. Jackie was beginning to wonder if this maybe wasn't an ordinary board… and that maybe this really wasn't a toy. This seemed more like… something Marvin would use.

“Two? But we only know Anti…” Abbie pouted, and began to shiver as the air grew colder around them.

“Hey, let's go get Marvin really quick!” Jackie said, quickly standing up.

“Aww, but-”

“Marvin can help us! It'll just be a second, come on.” He assured and watched as they both pouted.

“Okay… we will come back soon!” Abbie said, likely directed to Anti, then was gently rushed up the stairs by Jackie. Jackie paused for a moment at the bottom of the steps as he heard a strange growling noise echoing through the basement.

“Jackie, what's wrong?” Abbie asked as the hero glanced around the seemingly empty basement.

Anti was slowly starting to stand up from his spot, and barred his sharp teeth like a wild animal towards the phantom. 

He didn't want to share this house with any ghosts, and he would put them through _hell_ if they did anything to hurt the others. They were _his_ , not _theirs._

The phantom didn't seem phased, but as it took one step closer, and nearly placed a hand upon the hero’s shoulder, the lights in the basement began to flicker.

  
  


Anti didn't even give them a chance.

  
  


At the flickering lights, Jackie rushed up the stairs immediately to join the kids, slamming the basement door shut behind them.

They weren't there to see the planchette slowly move from the number 2, to 1.

  
  
  


“Marvin! Jackie said he needed help!” Abbie said, yelling through the hall since she couldn't remember which door was Marvin’s. Jackie quickly led them down the hall, but stopped as the door to the magician’s room was opened.

The familiar magician walked out with a smile as he saw the kids, and pushed his cat mask up from his face.

“With what?”

“The board game!” Sammy smiled, to which Jackie gave him a nervous smile.

“I thought you were hunting ghosts?” Marvin asked in confusion, shutting the door behind him and staring up at Jackie, “What did you do?”

“I uh… I thought that the weegie board was fake…” Jackie said nervously as Marvin’s eyes widened.

“My Ouija board is _not_ fake!”

“Yeah… we found out.”

“Where is it?”

“In the basement…” Jackie said, then watched as Marvin quickly began to walk towards the basement, and Jackie followed.

“Stay there!” Marvin called, opening up the door to the basement and quickly heading down the steps with Jackie following behind him.

Nothing seemed to have changed and the magician let out a sigh of relief as he rested on his knees in front of the board.

Jackie gave a confused look as he noticed the planchette was now rested on the number 1, but was interrupted by Marvin’s lecture.

“This board is my old set I used to conjure up spirits. This was _dangerous_.” Marvin grumbled, placing a hand on the board. Slowly, the glow faded out and it looked normal once again.

“I didn't know! I thought it was fine since you played it with me and Chase!”

“I didn't think anyone would use it again or come looking for it.” He muttered, letting out a sigh of relief.

Anti has sat back down at the board, glancing between the two. He desperately wanted some form of attention, maybe recognition. His ears perked up as Jackie continued.

“There was two… it said there were two ghosts, but then it moved to one.” Jackie looked down at Marvin, “What does that mean?”

“Cat fight.” Marvin teased, but his joke then turned serious, “Means… one of them got rid of the other. I'm surprised they did it so quickly too…”

“Anti?”

“Yeah, he probably did it-” Marvin’s talking was cut short as he heard the sound of wood scraping across wood. They stared down at the game as the planchette moved across the board, landing on the word ‘yes’.

Marvin quickly pushed himself up and away from the board, backing up into Jackie as he tried to stay away. His actions reminded the demon of a frightened cat.

The two couldn't see it, but the demon had a wide grin on his face. He _finally_ figured out what this game was for… it was a question game. A way for him to talk and get attention from the others without them running away. It meant it wasn't much of a game, but he enjoyed the concept of it anyways.

The two just stared down at the board in silence. It wasn't long before Marvin became increasingly annoyed and asked in a stern voice, “Who are you.”

A-N-T-I-

At that, Marvin’s confidence waned but he refused to move. Jackie stood with him by his side in case anything were to happen, as the planchette kept moving.

S-E-P-T-I-C-E-Y-E

“Like... Jack?” Jackie blurred out, to which the lights began to flicker, and there was no further response on the board.

“... we just want to know more about you.” Marvin swiftly said, watching as the lights stopped flickering, “... we don't mean to make you angry with us-”

“Are you guys done yet?” Jackie flinched at Abbie’s voice as she walked down the stairs with Sam behind her.

“You two need to stay up there, not-” Marvin let out a heavy sigh as Abbie kept walking down and came down to the basement despite Marvin’s warnings anyways, with Sam following behind her.

“When can we play?” Sam asked, looking up at them.

“You guys can play with something else, not with this.”

“But Jackie promised!” Abbie pouted, to which Marvin glared at the hero.

“I didn't promise!” Jackie insisted, which caused Marvin to rub at his head. He felt like he was babysitting more than he needed to.

“I'm sorry you guys, but this is off limits.” Marvin said sternly.

The two kids whined and Jackie let out a sad sigh with them, but this was probably for the better. Marvin hesitated for a moment, inching closer before he began putting everything back in the box, closing it up. The children followed Marvin as he headed upstairs, with Jackie following behind them… and Anti following behind after that. The demon let out a hiss as Jackie shut the door in his face, but Anti just phased through it anyways.

Before Marvin slipped away to his room, Jackie stopped him, “Hey wait, do you have anything else we can use?”

Marvin turned to look at Jackie, both confused and annoyed, “You still want to _hunt_ it?”

“It will be okay!”

“And if it possesses one of them??” Marvin said in a harsh whisper to Jackie before glancing at the kids, “Are you crazy? I know you're trying to see the best in things but this is going a bit far.”

“But wouldn't he have already tried while they were here..?” Jackie asked quietly. In the meantime, Abbie and Sam glanced back at the basement door before smiling at each other.

“And maybe he should have attacked us a month ago by now. Jackie, we don't know if he's gone or not, and seeking it out is _not_ a good idea. The kids know his name, they _said_ that he's here!”

“But we could ask them questions! If the kids are telling the truth then we could get answers-”

“Jackie they are CHASE’s kids. We are not risking them getting in danger!”

“I'm not putting them in danger alone! I'll be right there with them to help them-”

“Where did they go?” Jackie stopped rambling and glanced around at Marvin’s question.

“They were right here…”

  
  


Abbie and Sam had made their way down the steps quietly, and Abbie began looking around at the large cluttered basement, “Anti, are you here?”

Sam looked around too, but he didn't see anything. The both of them let out a disappointed sigh, ready to head back upstairs when suddenly a glitchy silhouette stood between them and the door up.

“Anti!” Abbie whispered with a smile, “We thought you were gone! Marvin and Jackie wouldn't let us talk to you. I have so many questions I wanna ask!” She bounced on her heels and Sam smiled with her.

“Why don't you show up around the others?” Sam tilted his head.

“ **S̫̝͔̈̃̌ĉ̨̡͚̉̑à͙͕͔́̕r͓̲̪̭̍͗͛͠e̟̚.̣͙́͂ ͓̟̳͋̀̑T̢̡͇̬͆̒̉͞hem̘̣͋͘.** ”

“You do look scary. Maybe you just need a makeover!” Abbie smiled, “We can braid your hair, paint your nails, and then-”

“Abbie? Sam?” Marvin called down the stairs. Anti quickly disappeared in front of them before Marvin began making his way downstairs, “There you are! Hey, let's go back upstairs, okay?”

“Aw, you scared away Anti!” Abbie and Sam had a matching pout, glancing back at where their ghost friend was just standing.

“Good… Anti is dangerous. You need to stay away from him, okay?” Marvin said, “Let's go upstairs.” They both pouted at that, but still followed Marvin up.

  
  


As dinner time approached, the two persisted that Anti was nice. It was then when Chase had enough of it, and decided to push them further on the topic. They needed to know he was dangerous… and not something to be toying with.

“Okay, then tell me why. How do you know he’s not dangerous? He's a stranger, Abigail.”

“Because he's like you!” Sam smiled, answering for his sister, “He looks like all of you!”

“Yeah! And he played games with us, and gave you the quarter too! He's a nice ghost!”

“I know you both… like Anti, but… he's very dangerous and we need you to stay away from him, okay?” Chase said in a polite tone. The two kids looked at each other in confusion, then back at Chase. He could sense them ready to ask question after question so he quickly interrupted their thoughts, “Eat your food, don't let it go cold.”

At that, most of the dinner was silent, or Jackie explaining one of his crazy stories. The kind you'd expect to be fake, and yet Chase knew it was real. Fighting crime, flying through the city... The children believed it was real too, even Abbie’s skepticism was washed away the further into the story they got.

Chase also knew Jackie did not have the mental capacity to come up with a story like that, in so much detail. But the dorky hero was always so sweet and innocent, none of the egos could stay mad at him for long. Even after the stunt he had pulled earlier in the day.

After dinner, they had played some card games. Uno, specifically. Jackie somehow ended up with twenty three cards, Chase had a nice balance, getting close to winning. Henrik muttered in German under his breath as Marvin slammed his card down, “I win!”

“Fuckin’ cheater.”

“HEY.” Chase warned, giving Jackie the stare as the kids giggled.

“Quarter, please!” Abbie teased, holding out a hand. Jackie let out a light chuckle.

“Sorry… here.” He said, reaching into his pocket and placing a single quarter in her hand.

The others laughed and continued playing, but after Marvin’s first win, the kids always seemed to magically win after them, and even Chase won once.

  
  
  


After games, Chase tucked the kids into bed, giving them kisses on the forehead when Abbie spoke up, “Can you tell us more of the story?”

“Story! Story!” Sam smiled, looking up at him.

Chase laughed quietly and nodded, “Okay, okay… where was I?”

“The _monster_ showed up!”

“Ah, right! The monster had just shown up to chase the man and his new friend, the doctor.

“Like Henrik!”

“Exactly.” Chase smiled, though he tried not to relate the story to them too much, he'd rather let them believe it was something he made up than a true story, “They both ran, and ran, until they were taken somewhere else too! Another part of the city, but this time it was a skyscraper. It happened so fast while they were running, he fell off the edge.”

They both let out a silent gasp.

“... but someone had heard him cry out, and in moments a superhero had flown up to catch him!”

Their frowns turned up into smiles, and Abbie said, “Like Jackie!”

“Mhm.” He hummed, “The hero asked them where they came from, and what they were doing…”

The story continued on, and after a while, the kids began to doze off. Though they desperately tried to stay awake to hear the story.

“And the demon popped up _again!_ It kept whispering, and saying things to them as it chased after them. The superhero couldn't fight the ghost, he'd punch right through it!”

“Did the superhero get hurt??” Abbie frowned.

“He did, which was why they turned and retreated, only to end up somewhere completely new once again. An old theatre-”

“And you've been telling stories for the past half hour again, Chase.” Marvin teased from the doorway, “Let your kids _sleep_.”

A collective ‘Aww’ came from all three, but Chase gave a sigh and kissed their foreheads, “Marvin’s right… there’s always tomorrow.” He smiled and gave them a pat on the head each before turning to leave, “Goodnight you two. Get some sleep.”

“Night dad!” “Goodnight daddy.”

The door closed and the two curled up in bed, listening to the footsteps walk away and down the hall. Turning into a room… and the door closing behind them.

It must've been close to half an hour before some footsteps began coming back. Abbie turned in bed to the sound, while Sam was still passed out in bed. She kept her eyes on the door as it creaked open… she hoped it was who she had been waiting for.

  
  


And it was. Anti was standing there, and he was holding onto something.

“Anti!” Abbie whispered loudly with a smile, which caused Sam to slowly blink awake, “Are you here to play more games?”

The demon held up what he was holding, which was the Ouija board they had used earlier with a giggle and a sharp toothed grin. Abbie gasped and smiled, hurrying out of bed and sitting down on the ground. She then tugged a bit at Sam’s pajamas and watched as he dragged himself out of his bed. Sam rubbed his eye a bit before looking down at the board game with a yawn.

Anti glitched as he moved, and quickly sat down across from them with the board. Apparently it hadn't clicked for either of them that the board was for ghosts, who were meant to be invisible, but they continued their game anyways.

“We can finally talk to you! And ask questions!” Abbie grinned excitedly, bouncing a bit where she sat. She tried to think of something and decided to start with an easy question, “Hmm… What's your favorite color?”

Anti stared at them for a moment with an eerie grin as he tried to process. Shortly after he looked down at the board and began moving the planchette.

R-E-D

“Ooo, I like red too! Like pink and red, but rainbow is really pretty. Do you like rainbows?”

Anti didn't even touch the board, he just kept silent and tilted his head.

“What's that mean? Like you don't know? Do you know what a rainbow looks like?” Abbie asked, confused.

No.

She let out a loud gasp, “Well, a rainbow is all the colors together! It's really pretty. It's red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and purple. All together! I'll draw you a rainbow too!” Abbie smiled, then looked at Sam to see if he wanted to say anything, “Do you have any questions, Sam?”

“Um… are you friends with dad?” Sam asked, to which it took awhile for the demon to answer. He seemed to stare through them as he tried to think, not doing anything. They took that as a _maybe._

“... maybe? Kind of?” Abbie asked before remembering breakfast with a pout, “... have you hurt dad? And his friends?”

Yes.

The movement was immediate.

“Why would you hurt them?” Abbie asked, a hurt expression on her face.

“ **_F̨̥́͠ů͈n̗̭̈͂̚ͅ_ **.̙͎̭̌̃͗̂̃͜͟”

The demon let out a chilling giggle. Sam seemed on edge about it, but Abbie seemed too riled up by his answer to be scared.

“It's _not_ fun!” Abbie shouted angrily, forgetting she needed to be quiet, “It's bad, and it hurts people! And the people you hurt get sad, and it makes their friends get sad, and it makes you sad too! And when you hurt people a lot, no one wants to be your friend! It's not fun at all!”

The demon’s crazed smile dropped as he tilted his head yet again.

“No one will want to play with you if you hurt them.” Sam added, “That makes you a bully. No one likes bullies.”

“If you hurt dad then we won't want to play with you anymore… please don't hurt dad or his friends.”

The creature seemed to stare with a blank expression on his face. He always found it _fun_ … fun to tease them and use them... but he also found it lonely. And lonely was not fun.

“Promise you won't hurt dad and his friends again!” Abbie pleaded, with Sam giving the demon a similar puppy eyed look.

After a moment, a grumble escaped the demon’s throat.

“ **_I̛ͅ p̩̮̃̋r̨͉̓̿o͍͐̆͜m̻̥̆̀͡ͅi̢͙̩̪̍̒̇̒s͎̜̰̳̃̎͊͘͢͡ë̡̛̜̠́̎_ **.̦͎͇̱͆͒́͞”

  
  
  


At that, footsteps sounded in the hallway, and the demon disappeared before the door to their bedroom was opened.


	3. Day Three

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chase and the kids leave the house for the day, leaving Anti attempting to make things up to the other egos. He isn't sure why, but it's not going as well as the kids said it would.

  
At breakfast, Abbie didn't hesitate to explain the night before. How Anti had brought in the board, how they talked, and how the demon had promised to never hurt them again.

Chase was thankful for the sentiment, but he didn't believe it in the slightest.

“You… made him promise?” Chase’s eyes snapped over to Marvin who was letting out quiet laughter. The magician quickly went quiet, but smiled at Jackie who was on the verge of laughing as well.

“Yeah! He said he promised he wouldn't!” Abbie smiled, “Right Sam?”

“Right!”

Chase couldn't help but let out a small scoff in an attempt to hide his own laughter, “... and why did you do that?”

“Because you said he hurt you!”

“Okay well… yes, thank you… but he could have hurt _you._ ”

“Anti doesn't hurt us, he's nice.” Sam began poking at the food on his plate again, but still not eating it.

“Samuel, eat your food.”

Sam let out a whine, pouting as he took a small bite.

“But dad, we made him promise not to hurt anyone! So now you can all meet him, right?” Abbie grinned, and from the determined look in her eyes, Chase could tell she wasn't letting this go. The father let out a worried sigh.

“... it's complicated, Abbie… it's not just that. You eat your food too.”

Abbie pouted, starting to stuff some hash browns in her mouth, “Why can't you guys meet him…” She mumbled out while chewing.

Chase glanced down at his plate, then back up at them both, “Alright, so let's say… someone hurt you really bad. They scared you, or pushed you around.”

Sam and Abbie both looked up at him.

“One day they promise you they won't hurt you ever again. But what about all the times they _did_ hurt you? And made you upset? It's more than a promise, Abbie, it's-”

“We need him to apologize.” A smile returned to Abbie’s face, and Chase let out a frustrated sigh, “Make him say sorry!”

“Oh boy, I can't fucking wait for that day to come.” Marvin muttered under his breath.

“Language!” Chase scolded, Abbie and Sam giggling.

“We are all horrible with language, we're gonna be broke by the end of this…” Jackie laughed and the rest of the table joined in laughing as Marvin slid a quarter over to Chase.

_Cling._

The table went silent as a random quarter seemed to have appeared on the table.

Sam gave a smile, looking up at something invisible to the rest of the table, “Anti, you don’t need to give a quarter! Uncle Marv gave a quarter because he said the bad word. You don't give one.”

The quarter seemed to slide off towards an empty seat at the table and dropped off, disappearing completely but never made a sound saying it hit the ground. The others looked at each other in concern while Sam waved at the familiar ghost sitting in the seat. Anti had an arm leaned on the table, eventually looking over to notice Sam. He hesitated before slowly raising his own hand and hesitantly waving back. Sam smiled at that, and Anti attempted to match with a grin that looked a little too wide to be human.

It was clear the others weren't sticking around after that, Jameson being the first to get up and leave after swiftly excusing himself. 

Chase would have left with him if it weren't for his kids being there. He shot a glare towards the empty seat, and Anti took it well enough to slowly get up and out of it.

The ghost could feel the tense atmosphere now, how Chase was moving his hands over closer to his kids. How Jackie, the loudest person there, was silent. How Marvin’s smile faded and became tense. Jameson left immediately. He wasn't welcome here.

“Can we get Anti some food too?” Abbie asked, snapping the others out of their trances.

“I can give him mine!” Sam offered, trying to get out of eating so he could go play with his toys.

“No, and no Sam, you need to eat _your_ food.” Chase said sternly, “Anti doesn't need to eat.”

“Why not?”

“Ghosts don't eat, buddy.”

Jackie muttered something about not knowing if Anti were a ghost, which Marvin swiftly elbowed him in the gut so he would shut up. If the kids heard that Chase would never hear the end of their complaints.

Abbie pouted at her father and continued eating her food as Jackie attempted to shift the conversation to something more uplifting.

Anti had moved, glitched, over to a wall to lean against. He was hardly listening to the story, just remembering what the two children said. An apology.

So if he just said sorry, things would be fine. Then they wouldn't be scared anymore. That's what that means, right?

After another moment of staring, he lifted himself off the wall and began walking down the hallway. He knew all the rooms like the back of his hand, and it didn't take him long before he phased through Jameson’s door.

The dapper was at his desk, peacefully writing away in his journal with his bright lamp light on. His eyes scanned the page again, then he began to scratch things out with his pen, drawing over them and making revisions to something.

The demon never really bothered to read what Jameson had written, but now for some reason… it piqued his curiosity. Curiosity was new, at least a harmless version of it was. Curious how someone would look torn in half was considerably different than curious about what someone may be writing.

Slowly he leaned over Jameson’s shoulder, looking down at what Jameson was scribbling down.

It apparently wasn't writing, but elegant floral drawings. They were slowly taking up the page, one leaf, stem, and flower at a time. It was fascinating how quickly he was able to draw them too, the scratching against the paper was surprisingly calming. One stem, leaf, and petal at a time. He'd learned a lot about the others since he stopped attacking them, just peacefully watching. He was itching for a fight within the first week, but slowly that faded into pure wonder. What they did when they _weren't_ fighting for their lives seemed to be just as appealing within time.

Suddenly Jameson’s drawings came to an abrupt halt. His hand was trembling, his eyes focused on the wall. Anti wasn't sure what had happened until he realized his shadow was showing, and he quickly pulled away from the bright light of his desk lamp to fade out of view entirely.

The dapper glanced around the room with a worried look in his eye, rubbing at his wrists nervously.

Right, just say sorry. That fixes things.

Jameson stared in horror as the ghost slowly appeared in front of him. Anti waited to become fully visible, glitching green skin and all. His black eyes stared down at Jameson as he tilted his head at him. The dapper had no idea what to do at first, too shocked and filled with fear to think about attacking.

**_“Sȯ̩r͉̫͛̕ŕ͎͖͇̌̍ỳ͢.̩͕̺̍̉͐”_ **

… Jameson didn't expect that. He hardly ever heard the glitch’s voice in general. His hands slowly let go of the glass he was ready to throw to the ground, watching as the ghost slowly faded away into pixels. He stared at the spot in shock, still glancing around for any signs that he was returning.

Anti was just wondering why Jameson was still scared. Saying sorry was supposed to fix everything, right?

  
  


Apparently… not. It just made things more complicated.

He followed Jameson as the man quickly walked out of the room. Anti let out an annoyed grumble as the door was slammed on him. _Again._ Before floating through it anyways.

Chase and his kids must've went off somewhere… unfortunate. Anti wanted to spend time with them again, but maybe that could happen tonight. Wake them up like usual. Unless… was that bad? It always got a negative reaction from the other egos. Only Henrik and Jackie were left at the table, and looked up once Jameson stepped in.

He signed quickly to them, to the point Henrik had to say, “Jamie, slower please-”

He let out an annoyed huff before shakily signing. Anti was curious about that too… being able to make signs with your hands to communicate. Maybe he could learn about that. His throat didn't allow him to say much, so maybe this was a better alternative.

“Anti did vhat?”

“Anti?” Jackie looked up at the name.

“Anti… appeared in Jameson’s room.”

“Did he hurt you?” Jackie asked quickly, to which Jameson shook his head.

“No, no Jameson says he was watching him. He saw his shadow, then he appeared in front of him. He said _sorry_ before disappearing.”

“... I swear he’s listening to those kids.” Jackie looked from Jameson over to Henrik, “They _just_ talked about that, and you know he was there at the table!”

“Jackie, you think a demon that's been following us, and attacking us, iz listening to Chase’s kids? _Vhy_ vould he even do zhat to begin vith?”

“Maybe he doesn't want to fight anymore..?” Jackie shrugged.

“Lost zhat zhe moment ve found Jameson…” Henrik muttered bitterly, taking a sip of his coffee.

Jameson? Was that the issue? Anti glanced over to see Jameson rubbing at his wrists again.

“I know… but maybe he didn't know any better.” Jackie quickly stopped himself, “But I, I'm not saying that we should immediately forgive him, just maybe give him a chance… but that's up to you. Both of you.”

Henrik nearly slammed his coffee cup down on the table, “After what happened, I'd think you would know better than to try and trust that _demon_.”

Jackie glanced down, partially ashamed of himself. It's true the demon did so much to them… and it wasn't his call to forgive and forget.

“... well, it's not just your call, Henrik. He’s hurt all of us. It's all of our decisions.”

Jameson nodded and began to sign towards Henrik. Anti noticed similar signs within the sentence from before, and a new one before it. A swipe against the palm, and a point to the right.

“He says that he might… be willing to forgive him. He just wants to know why.”

Those must have meant ‘forgive him’. It was the only two words repeated. Anti knew they couldn't see it, but signed it anyways to memorize it.

“Why he hurt us.” Jackie huffed.

Anti looked between them. Well, he could answer that simple enough. He was curious. He didn't know what else to do. He wanted to push the limits of others and himself just for the fun of it because he'd never done that before. He had power and he wanted to use it. But even when he was curious of morbid things, he only attacked when they did. He'd only play out those fantasies when provoked, but that never made it acceptable. He just didn't know when to stop, until he forced himself to, because… his violence gradually hurt him too. He was hated, and lonely. He didn't understand the consequences and suffered with them.

He wanted to know what it felt like to be better for once.

But by the time Anti was ready to talk, the others had already moved on from why he hurt them, and more on _why_ he trusted the kids.

“It doesn't make sense.”

“Henrik, it _does!_ Like he hasn't hurt them or us-”

“Yet.”

“Don't you think he'd hurt us by now if he really wanted to? He doesn't hesitate when it comes to attacking.”

Henrik looked up as he noticed JJ signing, then let out a huff, “It was _not_ only when we provoked him.”

But it was.

Anti tilted his head at the lie, glaring down at him.

“Uh… I'm pretty sure it was…” Jackie hummed, “I'd wait for him to attack me and he just… stood there.”

“That doesn't prove anything. Jameson never attacked Anti.”

Jameson raised his hand to sign, taking a moment to think before starting up again. Anti saw a few ‘him’s in there.

“... I threw a few things at him when he first showed up, he scared me. I didn't know what a stranger was doing in my room so I panicked, and he got mad.”

“So he only attacks when provoked!” Jackie confirmed, “So the next time we see him, just leave him alone!”

“Only _if_ no one is in any danger.” Henrik warned, “If he's near the kids, _don't_ hesitate Jackie.”

“Course not, but if I see him around I want… I want to talk with him.”

He wants to talk with me? Anti never really tried to keep up a conversation before. He knew words, he could assume their meanings with how often they were spoken and in what context. Cuss words he _especially_ knew… but he doubted the slit in his neck would let him speak enough.

“... do you think he's here?” Jackie whispered quietly, his eyes glancing around the room.

“From what Marvin said, he’s usually in zhe basement. I think ve are fine.” Henrik glanced over at JJ as he signed to them, “... I suppose so. He must've been dormant all this time.”

Anti let out an annoyed growl. He needed direct translation to figure this signing out.

“He was up here not too long ago. You're sure?”

“... no, I'm not sure, really. He could be standing vith us as ve speak.”

Jameson glanced around nervously, looking right through the very being he was searching for. He began to sign again, and Anti paid close attention.

“Jameson doesn't want to be alone.” Henrik looked over at Jackie.

Anti repeated the signs to himself.

“It's okay JJ! Come on, I'll hang out with you.” Jackie offered, standing up. Jameson gave a soft smile, ready to sign when Jackie stopped him, “No, I wanna hang out! And you need to teach me more sign. I need to learn it, really…”

Anti repeated the signs again.

Henrik watched them walk off down the hall. He let out a tired sigh, taking a sip of his lukewarm coffee. He looked down at it, blinking sleepily. For a moment he kept his eyes on the coffee, before finally looking back up.

Anti had appeared in front of him, standing opposite of the chair Henrik was sitting in. The glitching, the black eyes, the cut open throat…

The doctor didn't know what to do besides stare up at him in horror. He wasn't sure if he should run or yell, the ghost just stood there before him. Henrik kept his eyes on the glitch’s hands as they raised up and began to sign the same phrase.

**I don't want to be alone.**

  
  
  


Anti’s more frequent and harmless appearances threw the others into fits. They never brought Chase into it, he needed to not worry and spend time with his kids… but when it came to the other four they argued upon what _exactly_ Anti was trying to accomplish.

Little did they know Anti himself had no fucking idea.

Anti finally snapped himself out of his trance. Often he found himself zoning out, for minutes to days at a time. He never thought much of it, and turned his head to look up at them. Invisible and watching, as usual. A part of him was slightly… worried? If he had zoned out for a few days and missed the kids coming back, but a quick glance to the clock and then to someone’s phone eased his worry. It was only a few hours.

“Listen, I'm not forgetting what happened. If he shows his face I'm _going_ to attack him.”

“Marvin think about this! I know what happened to you and Jameson was… it was bad, but he's willing to put up with him if it means we can stop fighting-”

“Well I won't forgive him.” The magician hissed.

“You don't have to! But… has he ever attacked when not provoked?” Jackie asked, “Think about it Marvin. This is some… I don't know, lost soul! You know more about ghosts than I do, you should know!”

“But I _don't!_ I have no idea what it is, it's no ghost. That _thing_ is too powerful to be a ghost!”

“Then wouldn't it be better to keep him on our side?”

“No! He’s unpredictable, he could attack us whenever-”

“But he doesn't.” Jackie corrected, “... Marvin, he's in this house right now. Is he attacking us?”

“He could be planning something. He talks to Chase’s kids every night, they…” Marvin let out a shaky sigh, “I don't want them to get hurt, Jackie… so promise me this. If you see him with Chase’s kids, you'll protect them, and keep them far away from Anti. Don't let _him_ attack first.”

“Of course, I promise.”

Anti tilted his head as he watched the cat walk off down the hall.

“If you are going to talk to him, then do it fast. If I find him I'll fucking kill him.” The magician slammed the door behind him, and Jackie let out a quiet sigh, looking around.

This was something else the ghost never understood. They fought. Each ego always fought and fought. Sometimes it was about him, but sometimes not. Sometimes it nearly became physical, and it was _constant._ He could argue this did more damage than anything he ever did… so why did they hate him but not each other? _Did_ they hate each other? Not as much as Anti, which baffled him. At least his pain was quick, and they could ignore him… but this was torture.

Humans are confusing.

  
  
  


Eventually Chase, Abbie, and Sam all returned. They had gone on about playing something called laser tag all dinner, Jackie saying he'd love to go with them sometime.

Chase eventually brought Henrik off to the side to ask if anything happened while he was gone, but Henrik assured it was nothing to worry about.

That didn't fill Chase with confidence, but he decided not to push it.

At last the kids were sitting on their beds, cuddled up in the blankets and ready for the story to continue, “The old theatre, right?”

The two nodded with a smile as Chase let out a hefty sigh. Anti leaned back against the wall, ready to listen as well.

“Well… the man, the doctor, and the hero all found themselves in an old theatre. It was very quiet… nothing but creaky steps as they walked by. Slowly… trying not to make much sound…” 

Sam and Abbie both smiled excitedly.

“Before a spotlight suddenly turned on! It pointed down at the stage, showing a magician ready to perform. He gave a bow to the left, then one to the right… before standing up straight again.”

“Magician like Marvin…” Sam smiled sleepily, still oblivious as ever. Abbie however…

“Mhm… but his performance with card magic and sleight of hand was not that well… but the three still had no idea what they were doing there to begin with. They tried to find a way out of this strange place, only when one of them tried to leave through a door, the magician became angry. Fire, _real_ magic flew from his fingertips as a warning before he returned to his show. They all eventually decided to stay and watch, but the doctor noticed how stiff his movements were. Moving like a… puppet.”

“A puppet? Is the magician a puppet?” Abbie asked, and Chase shook his head.

“No, he was a person. But something was toying with him. Making him do things he didn't want to do.”

“That's mean…” Sam frowned, and Anti shifted a bit where he stood.

“But he wasn't the only one, when the magician was finished, a second person walked on stage. A kind gentleman... It was then when the doctor noticed the thin red strings on them.”

“So what did they do?”

Chase paused for a moment to think about his answer. He remembered the scene in gruesome detail, the red bleeding marks on Jameson’s wrists and neck. The more faint, but visible ones on Marvin’s. Their eyes glazed over as they were forced to act. The possession Marvin faced. The fact Jackie had to fight him off, only to have Anti leave the magician defenseless in the end as he tried to go after _them._

**_W͉̹̜̽̾͝h̼̿ä̡͍̹́͑͠t'͚͚͛̌s̢͕͌͒ ̩͐w̧̹̬͋̅̈r̋ͅoṋ̙͌̐g̤͆ ̢̙͍̾̿̃ẉ͑ī̹t͍̯̹́̉̀̀ͅh͇̓́͢ ̬̩̲̻̔̈́̊̉m̫͐ŷͅ ̦͝s̙͂͒͢͡ͅḣ̜̈́͢ŏ͚̼́ŵ͔̻͌̉ͅ?_ **

“... the hero leaped up and tackled the magician down, while the doctor followed him and used a knife to cut their strings free. The two were both thankful for being set free. But this angered the demon hunting them… so it appeared again!”

Chase avoided much of the more… disturbing parts. The less interesting ones too. How Henrik had to help patch up Jameson’s wounds, worried he might have had to amputate his hand if they were any deeper. How Jackie had to deal with a burn on his chest, and Marvin with broken bones. Chase with bruises after the fight Jameson had put up before they were freed.

How Anti had become furious for ruining his show. How the demon didn't understand what was wrong as he puppetted people to his will. How _twisted_ it all was...

Honestly, it wasn't a children’s story. It was a horrible one, but he hoped to make it something they could learn from.

“And so the five ran away together… to…” Chase smiled, “... well, we will figure out tomorrow.”

“Awwwwww…” The two whined as Chase stood up. The father gently tucked them both in and gave each of them a kiss on the forehead.

“Goodnight Abbie, goodnight Sam.” Chase gave them a small smile, turning on the nightlight before gently closing the door behind him.

At the click of the door, Abbie turned over in bed and looked towards Sam, “Pssst, Sam.”

“Hmmmm…” He barely managed to open up his eyes to look at his sister.

“Do you think Anti is coming?”

“He's already here.” Sam mumbled.

“Huh?”

Abbie glanced over in the room, just to notice Anti standing there suddenly. His head was hung limp, his eyes completely black. Abbie let out a happy gasp, despite the horrific twitchy ghost that stood before them, “Anti!”

Anti blinked a few times before his glowing green iris returned. He looked up at Abbie in time to see her run up and hug him. The ghost bared his claws in case it was an attack, but… it wasn't. It just felt nice.

He let his claws retract into normal nails, resting a hand on her back as Sam followed with his sleepy hug. Anti rested a hand on his back too.

“Anti! Anti I think they want to meet you!” Abbie smiled, pulling away, “We have to give you a makeover! You need to look amazing when you meet dad and Jackie, and Marvin, and Jamie, and Hen!”

The ghost tilted his head as the little girl directed him to sit. After staring down at them for a moment, he hesitantly took a seat on the ground.

“You already have your nails painted!” Abbie smiled, looking down at the ghost’s black nails, “It's not a bright color though… kind of boring. I wish I could paint them red for you.”

“You have earrings like dad...” Sam pointed out, looking at his gauges. He giggled as Anti flicked his long pointed ears.

“He does! But you know what he _does_ need? He needs his hair braided.” Abbie walked behind Anti, ignoring the low warning growl he let out. He wasn't sure what this child was doing and didn't know if it was a threat or not. He only heard the word ‘braid’ once or twice and it was usually the magician who said it.

Meanwhile, the little girl combed her hands through his hair, trying to untangle it with a frown, “When was the last time you combed your hair? And it's so dirty! You need a bath.” She stopped and began rummaging through her bag for her brush, bringing it back and trying to comb it through his hair instead.

Anti let out a louder growl as she tugged at a knot in his hair, but it eventually untangled itself, “Hey, it's _your_ fault your hair got like this! You’re nasty. You need to shower.”

Anti’s growls became quieter, not sure what to say to that.

Sam was busy trying not to fall asleep, sitting on the ground near Anti criss crossed. He began to fall to the side, but quickly jerked up again, pulling his blanket closer.

Abbie finally finished combing through the glitch’s hair, brushing it back for him. Anti’s growls turned into satisfied hums, his eyes slowly closing. Now that the knots were out, that felt really nice…

Abbie set the brush down and began to part sections of Anti’s hair, “I learned how to braid from mom. She taught me because I asked her after she braided my hair one day. Now I can braid your hair! Just stay still okay?”

“ **Ó͔̘̩̈̋k͈̣̹̍̚͘a̛̩̱͈͆̓y̡̧̭̽͑̾̃͘͜͜**.͕͎̪̜̔͌́̕”

Abbie smiled at that, starting to braid his hair. Sam had fallen asleep sitting up. Anti glanced over at the boy, staring at him. That probably wasn't good for human’s was it? There's a reason they lay down, he's sure of it.

The glitch gently reached a hand out and pulled the boy closer, resting Sam’s small head on his leg. He then closed his eyes again and let Abbie finish.

A part of him began to wonder what it would look like if they cried. Screamed. What they would look like hurt or if they bled. What Chase would do if that happened. It was always an intrusive thought he followed through with before, but now he knows if he does that… he wouldn't be able to enjoy these moments. These little… _soft_ things. Soft was new. How Abbie softly combed her hands through his hair, how Sam softly breathed as he slept. No violence, no pain.

This felt good. This felt better than pain. Even a rush of power didn't feel as good as this. Anti couldn't figure out what exactly this feeling was yet, but it felt better.

“All done!” Abbie smiled, rushing over to grab a mirror. The ghost glanced up at her, then flinched a little as she forced the mirror in front of him. Anti stared at his reflection.

He had seen it before, a tiny bit in broken mirrors and black screens… but not like this. He didn't take the time to look at it. Unsettling green and black eyes, green skin, the glitching and deep open wound running into his neck. His pointed ears too, and when he opened his mouth to glance at his teeth they were mostly all sharp and pointed.

Not human. Not like them in the slightest.

“... so what do you think?” Abbie asked shyly, “Do you like it?”

Anti remembered his hair and tilted his head to get a better look at the braid. What was even better was that his hair didn't get in his way now… that was helpful. Anti hesitated before nodding, Abbie beginning to smile again.

“Yay! You have to take it out before you go to sleep though, mom says it's not good for your hair to keep it up all the time.”

Anti had no idea what that meant, all he took from that was 'take it out by tomorrow’ for some reason.

“Now we need makeup! I don't have mine but I think uncle Marvin has some we can borrow!” She stood up, looking down at them. Anti glanced down at Sam, then back up at her.

“Just put him in bed, he's tired after what we did today! Today dad took us to go play laser tag! It was so much fun, and then we went and got pizza…” Anti listened as he placed a hand on the boy’s shoulder. Immediately they both vanished, reappearing with Sam in the bed while Anti was standing next to him, his hand still on the boy’s shoulder. He looked down at Sam and remembered what Chase did for them every night. He has to do that too, right?

He pulled the blanket up to tuck Sam in before leaning down and giving him a kiss on the forehead.

Abbie let out a quiet giggle and Anti looked over at her as he stood back up.

“Dad might get mad… he says only he can give us kisses goodnight.”

Anti glanced away. He hadn't thought about how being father and child might affect their relationship. That was… pretty important. There was a lot of emotional dynamics Anti had yet to learn. Ones of friends and family, how sometimes those merge together. Romantic and platonic. Positive and negative. One negative he was particularly on the brunt end of; being hated.

“It's okay though. I won't tell him!”

Anti looked down at Abbie again.

There was one positive. Being trusted. By only two little kids, but he didn't care or bother to make it any different. But, he knew trust could be broken now, so he had to be careful. It's fragile, as people said… but it also felt good.

Abbie began to lead him out, tugging at his hand, “Come on come on! You have to help me find it!” She raised her finger to her mouth and hushed him, “But you have to be quiet or we will get caught!”

Anti stared down at her before raising his finger up slowly, placing it in front of his mouth. He let out a quiet hush that echoed with a creepily wide grin to follow.

Abbie just smiled and nodded, “Mhm! Come on!” She said, grabbing the door handle and pushing it out. Abbie checked the hall, making sure it was empty before tugging Anti along with her, him walking slowly behind as she kept a hold of the ghost’s hand.

“Uncle Marvin is usually in the office right now I think… so we just have to sneak in-” She reached up to open Marvin's door.

“Abbie?”

Abbie turned around, looking up to see who called her name, “... hi Dad…”

Chase stared at the ghost holding his child’s hand. He stood still, watching with wide, furious eyes, “... Abbie, come here.”

“Dad, this is Anti-”

“Abbie please.” Chase pleaded, watching her look up at Anti for a moment. She sighed before letting the ghost’s hand go, rushing over to Chase. She turned to look back at Anti, ready to say something when her father spoke up.

“What are you doing here.” Chase asked Anti, feeling much better now that Abbie was with him. He looked down at his daughter and quietly whispered, “... did he hurt you? Are you alright?”

“Dad, I'm fine. I'm giving Anti a makeover! He really needs one. His hair was all dirty and tangled so I braided it for him!”

Chase glanced up at the new braid in the ghost’s hair, “So… you did…” He kept himself between Abbie and the demon, glaring at him, “What do you want?”

Anti thought back for a moment before signing the same words he had to Henrik.

“You lost that the moment you attacked us.” Chase said sternly, ignoring his daughter that kept trying to argue, “You took pleasure from our suffering. You're insane, and I want you _OUT_ of this house. Leave us alone. Leave my kids _alone.”_

Anti tilted his head, looking down at the ground. He stared for a while, thinking and trying to process what he should say.

“ **...S̱̻̣̠̏̊͒̐o͇̓ŕ̯͙̤̗̈̒̉r̲̾͊ͅy̢̼̾͒**.͓̘̼̻̞̅̀̽̈̂”

Chase hesitated, confused as the ghost before him disappeared into nothing. Still, he was stubborn and turned to rush Abbie back to her room, “You don't talk with him anymore, okay?”

“But dad, he apologized…”

“He lies.”

**Author's Note:**

> The next chapter will come out soon! There will be around 5 or 6 in total. Enjoy this little mini series :D


End file.
